Venus Reaches out to Jupiter as Mars Waits Nearby

Venus is the planet in the news this morning as it reaches its furthest point from the Sun in the pre-dawn sky (technically known as Greatest Western Elongation) and simultaneously forms a very close conjunction with Jupiter.

This is actually quite a sight as Venus is the third brightest object in the sky (after the Sun and Moon) while Jupiter is the fourth. It’s a pity Mars couldn’t be closer and that the Moon is so far away, but Venus and Mars will be very close on November 3rd and the Moon returns to the group about three days later.

If you have a telescope, take a moment to point it towards Venus. Even with low magnification, you should be able to see the planet in a “half Moon” phase. This is called dichotomy – in other words, half the planet is illuminated by sunlight while the other half is still in darkness. This always happens around the time of greatest elongation.

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